Carnation, a square dancing team formed by retirees, performs at the Looking For China's Most Beautiful Queen of Square Dancing competition in Shanghai last year. (Photo by GAO ERQIANG/CHINA DAILY)
According to Wang, many of the dancers belong to the "first generation of mothers of single children", who are lonely because their only child, or husband, is often away from home in search of opportunities to make money. This description of square dancers rings true for Yang; her husband died from diabetes in 2009, and her son is in the military and is only allowed to return home every two months. Her daughter-in-law, who is a television producer, is rarely home because she frequently travels for work.
Although Yang no longer dances with Carnation, she has little opportunity to take care of her 7-year-old grandson, who is usually cared for by his mother's parents.
Now, Yang laments the opportunities she missed to bond with her family's youngest member. It is the only downside to her hectic years of travel and dancing.
"It seems that I became too occupied with square dancing. It feels as though my grandson needs to make an appointment weeks in advance before he can visit me. I have failed to be a good grandmother," she said.
"But every time we return home from a competition or a performance, my son, if he is around, offers to pick me up from the airport or railway station. When we exit the gate and see families greet us with flowers and cheers regardless of the outcome of the competition, we feel like Olympic champions."
